Bretagne

Bretagne (French pronunciation (help·info); English: Brittany; Breton: Breizh; Gallo: Bertaèyn) is one of the 26 régions of France. It occupies a large peninsula in the northwest of the country, lying between the English Channel to the north and the Bay of Biscay to the south. Its capital city is Rennes.

Territory

The région of Bretagne is made up of 80% of the former duchy and province of Brittany. The remaining 20% of Brittany is the Loire-Atlantique département which lies inside the Pays-de-la-Loire région, with its capital Nantes, which was the historical capital of the duchy of Brittany.

Part of the reason why Brittany was split between two modern day régions was to avoid the rivalry between Rennes and Nantes. Although Nantes had been the main capital of the duchy of Brittany until the 16th century, Rennes had been the seat of the parlement (supreme court of justice) of Brittany between 1560 and 1789. Rennes had also been the administrative capital of the intendance of Brittany between 1689 and 1789. Intendances were the most important administrative units of the kingdom of France in the 17th and 18th centuries. As for the provincial states of Brittany, which originally met every two years in a different city of Brittany, they had only met in Rennes from 1728 to 1789 (with only the exceptions of 1730, 1758, and 1760). Despite that, the "Chambre des comptes" stayed in Nantes until 1789. Note that Vannes (Gwened in breton) used to be the first administrative capital of the duchy from 1381 till the end of the 15th century, keeping the seat of the "Chambre des comptes" till 1491/99, and the one of the "Parlement" till 1553, and between 1675 and 1689.

Thus, when French régions were created, it was decided in 1941 to create a région of Bretagne with Rennes as its capital, and another région created specifically for Nantes, which was called Pays-de-la-Loire (i.e. "lands of the Loire"). Pays-de-la-Loire is made up of a part of Brittany, but also several other historical provinces (Anjou, Maine, and so on).

Some people in Brittany complain about the current division of Brittany and would like to see Loire-Atlantique joining the région of Bretagne in order to reunify Brittany. However, reunification raises a couple of questions: first, what to do with the rump Pays-de-la-Loire région, and second, which city should be chosen as the capital of this reunified Bretagne région.

Language

Breton, a Celtic language (akin to the Welsh, say the linguists), used to be spoken in the western part of Brittany (roughly, west of a boundary from St Brieuc to Vannes ). Since the beginning of the 20th century, it has been very efficiently fought by the French administration and educational system ("It is forbidden to spit on the ground and to speak Breton") in the process of promoting French as the sole language of the country. Breton has now become a mere cultural and folklore trait of the province. Nevertheless, it is regarded as important by the Breton people, even though it is today no-one's mother tongue, as a symbol of the past of Brittany and cultural identity, even in places in Brittany where it had never been spoken before! Modern French administration now allows for some Breton to be used, in road signs and names of towns and cities, along with the French version. It is also taught at school, and many folklore associations and clubs try to revive it.

In the part of Brittany which never spoke Breton, Gallo, an Oïl language, is also in the process of being revived, as a cultural trait of that part of Brittany.

Transportation

There are several airports in Brittany serving destinations in France and England. TGV train services link the région with cities such as Paris, Lyon, Marseille, and Lille in other régions of France. In addition there are ferry services that take passengers, vehicles and freight to Ireland, England and the Channel Islands.

This article is licenced under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Bretagne".